Episode 274 (Manga)
Synopsis The three men fall from the sky; Serpico crosses the expanse of the harbor in his controlled jump while Guts and Daiba fall limply from the exploded watery corpse of the Kundalini. As he falls, Daiba calls for and is caught by a pterosaur-like monster called the Garuda. Guts is the only man of the three to fall into the harbor's waters. He swims to the surface and is greeted by Serpico, and the two briefly bask in their victory. The moment is cut short by Schierke, who is concerned that Guts pushed himself too hard due to the fact that he cannot physically feel pain. What's more, due to Schierke's inhabiting Guts' body, he was the one to suffer the physical effects of her spellcasting. She tearfully proclaims that she does not want to use dangerous techniques like she did with Guts. Daiba flies off on the Garuda, reeling from his loss against Guts and Serpico. He resolves not to give up on his goal of creating a land full of magic users. As he flies, Daiba receives a telepathic message from his superior, who is not appreciative of Daiba's defeat. Just then, Guts and Serpico notice a large volume of fog form around them. The fog flows upwards until it takes the form of a gigantic foggy Ganishka. Guts immediately recognizes Ganishka as an Apostle. Ganishka berates Daiba for expending too many makara and the Kundalini in a vain attempt to kill Guts. Daiba tries to form an explanation, but he is interrupted when Ganishka hurls a punishing but non-lethal lightning bolt at him. As Daiba flies away, Ganishka compliments Guts and Serpico for having been able to kill so many makara and even the Kundalini. He then asks if they are allied with the White Falcon, revealing to Guts that Ganishka and Griffith are not allies, as he had earlier guessed in his conversation with Owen. Not receiving an answer, Ganishka simply decides to assume that Guts and Serpico are allied with Griffith and shoots a powerful lightning blast directly at them. When the smoke clears, Ganishka is shocked to see that the sylphs in Serpico's cloak and sword formed a barrier around the two, protecting them from the worst of the blast. Ganishka strikes again, and this time both Serpico and Guts dodge. They continue to evade the lightning by jumping across overturned boats and chunks of wood until Guts is directly hit. The intensity of the attack forces Schierke's Astral body to separate from Guts' ego, and she returns to her own physical body. Guts is lying face-down on the boat. He is alive, but the blast combined with Schierke's leaving his mind results in the Berserker Armor no longer lending its power to him, and the wolf helmet disappears. Ganishka is shocked to see that Guts has now twice survived a blast of lightning, but he remains undeterred. With Guts no longer able to dodge, Ganishka unleashes one more extremely powerful attack directly at the Black Swordsman. Characters in Order of Appearance